WHEN we think about relations between countries it is normal to think about political, commercial, cultural and other classic links between friends and allies. In looking at Canada and Bulgaria, however, I am often struck by how important immigration and visa issues are and have been in the entire post-war period.

My first visit to Bulgaria took place in November, 1969 at the beginning of my career in the Canadian Foreign Service. I found the country to be a very unhappy one. Bulgarians travelling in the same compartment of the Orient Express that I had taken to Sofia from Belgrade, were visibly frightened by the examination of their documents conducted by officials of their own country on arrival at the border.

I made several visits to Bulgaria during the period 1969 to 1972. The most difficult of the problems I had to deal with were consular - trying to help the families of those Bulgarians who had defected to the west and eventually settled in Canada. Here again, I found Bulgarian officals almost vengeful. It was obvious that they took more than professional satisfaction in making life as miserable as possible for fellow countrymen who had commited the apparently unforgiveable act of exercising one of their fundamental human rights by leaving their country to make a life for themselves and their families elsewhere.

Contemporary Bulgaria has put the shadows of that era behind it and the visitor is able now to appreciate the wonderful geographic and ethnic diversity of this country. Ingrained bureaucracy is subsiding and openess to foreigners is manifest in a multititude of contexts not only in tourism

Nevertheless, the modern relationship between Canada and Bulgaria continues to be affected by immigration and visa issues but the context is inverse to what it was in the sixties and seventies. Now that foreign travel is no longer opposed by the state, there is what appears to me to be an outpouring of interest in going abroad. Not all of these aspirations are in fact in the best interests of the individuals who are keen to travel and certainly it is not a good influence for the development of modern Bulgaria. The loss of large numbers of its trained young people can undoubtedly become an impediment to future economic growth and prosperity.

There is a small Canadian Consulate in Sofia and visa officers visit once per month to interivew visa applicants. The volume is healthy - some 2000 applications are received each year for visitor visas and in addition there are several hundred applications for permanent residence mainly from young engineers and information technology professionals.

In global terms, however, large scale out migration is a problem for Bulgaria.

Canada accounts for only a small part of what in aggregate is a huge loss for Bulgaria. High emigration and low birth rates combine to produce demographic projections that suggest that the population of this country will decline to three fifths of its 1989 level by 2025. Such a serious drop in population must have a negative impact not only the economy but on a whole range of civil institutions.

This constititutes a new dilemma for Canada. While we find the emigration flow counter-productive to the achievement of the political and economic objectives that must be achieved to stablise this country over the long term and to ensure it takes its rightful place in Europe, we also support the right of an individual to realise their personal goals and ambitions provided they use legal means to do so.

While Canada benefits from the talents of these young professionals that decide to settle in our country, from a policy perspective, we would be much more supportive of those who stay to help build the economy and stable political institutions. We supported Bulgaria's bid for accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and we support the candidacy for the European Union. We therefore do not actively recruit immigrants in Bulgaria but out of respect for free choice, we serve those who apply according to the same service standards that are offered to applicants in other parts of the world.

In looking at the 30 year period that my career has brought me into contact with Bulgaria and Bulgarians, it is readily apparent that the immigration issue has always affected the relationship - first because the right to leave their own country was not available to Bulgarians; and more lately because so many Bulgarians want to settle abroad.

Hopefully, it will take a lot less than another 30 years for Bulgaria to reach the state of development that we will not have to worry about clandestine migration. I am convinced that that day will arrive sooner if more young Bulgarians invest their talents in Bulgaria rather than in countries that are already developed such as Canada.